Bearings are often used as critical parts in complex machines and bearing failure may lead to major damages. Replacing bearings may be complicated and results in downtime. The bearing lifetime strongly depends on the quality of the lubrication and of the seals. Monitoring the quality of the seals and of the lubrication is therefore highly desirable.
The progress in mobile telecommunication technology has brought about a new generation of semiconductor-based accelerometers for use in smartphones which are highly miniaturized.